Pandit Prabhakar Karekar (1944 â 12 February 2025) was an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, born in Goa, Portuguese India. He was awarded Tansen Samman in 2014 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the year 2016.
Prabhakar Janardan Karekar was born into a Daivadnya family in 1944, which was then Portuguese Goa. His Hindustani vocal music training came from Suresh Haldankar, Jitendra Abhisheki, and C. R. Vyas. He was known as an outstanding performer and teacher, and was a graded artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Karekar died on 12 February 2025, at the age of 80.
Karekar was also the founder and Chairman of the Swarprabha Trust. He trained several promising and accomplished young musicians. He had recordings to his credit and performed, lectured and held workshops or taken part in conferences in different countries.
Karekar entered the world of fusion music with Ornette Coleman (U.S.A.), and Sultan Khan (India). The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award was for his contribution to Hindustani vocal music.